Electoral staff resign amid rejected ballots probe in St James

Wednesday, February 08, 2012

THE Electoral Commission of Jamaica (ECJ) last night said it had accepted the resignations of two Electoral Office of Jamaica staffers who presided over voting in the East Central James constituency in the December 29, 2011 general election.

According to the ECJ, the returning officer and the assistant returning officer both tendered their resignations in order to facilitate the commission's probe into 162 spoilt ballots believed to be cast on December 22, 2011 when election day workers voted.

The ECJ said that the ballot box from Polling Station 50 contained a total of 455 ballots — 386 cast by election day workers and 69 cast by electors who voted on December 29.

"By even the most cursory analysis, it is clear that the vast majority of the 162 rejected ballots would be ballots cast by election day workers who are among the most knowledgeable and proficient electors," the ECJ said in a statement.

"This raises questions that, in one way or another, could undermine the integrity of the electoral process if they are not answered definitively and acted upon appropriately and decisively," the ECJ added.

"Reports from observers, of both the final count and the magisterial recount, are that the ballots were rejected for several reasons, including being marked for more than one candidate, or for having additional markings that are prohibited by the Representation of the People Act," the commission said.

Following the conclusion of the magisterial recount, the ECJ chairman instructed the director of elections to conduct an investigation into the matter.

The ECJ also said it has instructed the director of elections not to deploy the election day workers, who served in East Central St James for the general election, for work in any electoral division of that constituency for the upcoming local government election.

Last week, the Jamaica Labour Party's Ed Bartlett, who won the seat on the re-count, called for a forensic audit into the alleged voting irregularities in the polling division.